20 Years of Indian Infrastructure

Release of the commemorative issue

Suresh P. Prabhu, Union Minister, Ministry of Commerce and Industry and Ministry of Civil Aviation, formally released Indian Infrastructure’s 20th Anniversary issue on September 20, 2018. The event was attended by leading representatives of the infrastructure sector. Excerpts from the minister’s address on the occasion…

“You have been doing a wonderful job in bringing out a focused publication. Your magazines have facilitated reliable interaction with the infrastructure sector community.”

“One of the biggest problems that the Indian industry had been facing was the lack of power and high interest costs. Thanks to some of the great work that we all did together, the electricity sector saw great changes. The installed capacity more than tripled thanks to the Electricity Act, 2003. We also came out with the Energy Conservation Law and created the Bureau of Energy Efficiency which led to rapid strides and huge savings in the sector. “

“In the infrastructure sector, the major challenge is that we are still lagging behind demand. The demand always outstrips the supply. This is because when we plan for capacity addition in any infrastructure project we take into account the present demand. We always tend to forget that it is tomorrow and day after that has to be taken into account when we plan today. Therefore, Indian Infrastructure magazine will help us work on these issues, bring all the policy-makers, stakeholders, and industry leaders together, and deliberate, debate and come out with strategies that would help us make significant progress.”

“I deal with one part of infrastructure which is aviation. I was asking my colleagues when we are growing at 20 per cent, how much capacity addition do we need in terms of infrastructure. For example, we need about 100 new airports in the next 10-15 years. That is why we need to plan today. So, we decided to create 100 airports with an investment of $65 billion. We will alert stakeholders whether we plan to construct these airports on a PPP basis or a completely private basis. We are coming up with a plan for 2035 for the entire aviation sector.”

“If we want to really fly high, then we must plan for it today. I am sure that Indian Infrastructure magazine will help us significantly in planning for the future.”

“In the railway sector too, I was planning for the future.We prepared a full railway budget with $144 billion worth of capital investments in the next five years. Within a few days of presenting the budget, I signed an agreement with the Life Insurance Corporation of India for $25 billion. It was an opportunity for Indian Railways as it got the lowest cost funds for a 30-year duration. Similarly, LIC got an investment potential in an organisation which had assets that will never go bad.”

“I am sure that 10 years from now you will see the railways to be completely different from what it is today. The civil aviation sector also will be far better 10 years from now. But for that we need to think ahead of time. I am sure Indian Infrastructure magazine will facilitate this and help us to take the infrastructure sector forward.”

Atanu Chakraborty, Secretary, Department of Investment and Public Asset Management, co-releases the magazine

“Many congratulations on Indian Infrastructure completing 20 years. Both finance and infrastructure, especially project-related areas, are generally dry topics and most of the magazines/publications tend to fall by the wayside.“

“You deserve full kudos, to have survived, prospered, progressed and, above all, made so many friends. Five years are not far for the silver jubilee, and perhaps, one would see the golden jubilee of the organisation as well. “

“We do hope that this publication continues to supply all of us with very useful data and insights and provides an outlet for many people to express their views. This is very important given the fact that one doesn’t get a chance to meet people in these areas too often. “

“Congratulations again, and best wishes for the future success of the magazine.”